BBC director-general Matt Brittin says he would allow programmes to be presented by AI — with guardrails

The useful part

THE BBC's director-general has said he would allow programmes to be presented by artificial intelligence (AI). Matt Brittin, who succeeded Tim Davie in May, made the comments in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg. The interview is set to be aired in full on Sunday, with a preview broadcast on BBC News at One on Friday.

How it works

• New poll shows how every Scottish seat could vote – see your area He also expressed concerns about a handful of tech companies having control of information in the future.
• The former Google executive is the first director-general since Greg Dyke in 2000 to take on the role without working at the BBC beforehand.
• The BBC's latest annual report detailed how the corporation's financial outlook "deteriorated" in the second half of 2025.
• I think what you do is you keep under review how those things work and whether your content can show up in the right place and fulfil its mission." He added: "I think the BBC and our apps and services...
• READ MORE: BBC Sport to cut 41 jobs and axe news bulletins to save costs "If you see changes that we make in the future as we work out how best deal with this challenge, by the way hopefully with a new...

What to take from it

"We want to experiment with this technology and understand what it can and can't do, but I'm here because I believe in human creativity. Around 2000 jobs are expected to be axed as part of the process, with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) warning that the BBC risks becoming trapped in an "inescapable doom spiral" if it continues making cuts. When asked by Kuenssberg if he would allow a programme to be made and presented by AI, Brittin said: "I would do, within guardrails.

Example or evidence

• "I think there's a danger that six companies will control access to information in future and the creation of information and misinformation.
• "There's a lot of platforms out there, so I wouldn't trust any platform innately.
• Everywhere else you go is driven by some commercial interest." During the interview, Brittin also addressed the BBC's financial situation.
• The public broadcaster announced plans in June for savings across the news, nations and content divisions, which are set to deliver £160 million of £500m in savings needed by 2028/29.

Details worth keeping

It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald. "I don't think anything we do should be replaced by AI. It's not a substitute for humans." READ MORE:

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